I am in the process of building my home which will have cedar lapped bevel and shake siding. I plan on laving them the natural color with a clear sealer applied only. I have read somewhere in Fine Homebuilding about dipping the siding material in the sealer prior to installation. Are there any opinions on this technique? I also would like some advice on the best kind of sealer to use for cedar.
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If you plan on the siding being "natural color", why are you sealing it? (Do you know what "natural" cedar looks like?)
RE
I want the siding to keep, as close as possible, the color it is when I install it. Whether that is the "natural" color or not. I do know I want to protect it from premature failure and from the uneven, black and gray streaking I have seen. It may be that I have to actually coat it with a stain that is close to the "natural" color. I have read in the past about a method of immersing the siding in the preservative/stain/sealer prior to installing and it semed to be a good way of applying large amounts of coating to the siding in a short period of time.
Thanks for the comments.
andy
A couple things-
There's alot of siding on a house. Look into getting it predone by the distributor of your siding products.
and
Clear sealer is the shortest lasting protective finish you can put on an exterior product. As it wears non uniformly, you may go nuts trying to keep that nice honey brown color from changing.
Best of luck in your new home.
first - no matter what you do, it will not stay blonde. Just like any natural blonde, it will go grey eventually
For the best 'natrual' look, get Maibec prestained with a Cabot bleaching oil, thne plan to re-apply every 3-4 years
sealing cedar siding
check out the website from Sikkens re material used
make sure the backside is sealed also. If not it will go grey or black on you in later years.
I found the most economical way is to have it sealed by a company that has the right equipment spraying it.
If you want to do it yourself, build a trough to the longest length and slop it on. Any overuse can be used again from the trough. Trough construction: bottom plate wider than the siding, sides usually 2x6, line with 6mil poly. Lay siding on blocks in the trough and use a short mohair pad and soak it well. Drying rack would be nice, since very few people have something like that,the presealed method (company) is the better and faster way